CHAPTER 6

"Let me take this from you,"
Brian said without waiting for Colt's answer, reaching for the
nerd's heavy messenger bag.

Colt sighed knowing resistance would
be futile. Sam was already pulling Colt's roll-on case, while
carrying his own heavy military style backpack. CE and Brian had
similar rucksacks on their backs so some passengers around them
thought they were an army detail on their way to invade some foreign
country in the Middle East.

Colt wasn't allowed to carry
anything. While he had gotten used to this somewhat emasculating
practice on campus, it was still an awkward feeling outside of it.
But arguing would have made things just worse especially as they
didn't have a lot of time, so he let it happen.

They rushed to the Delta check-in
machines to get their boarding passes for the 01:20 pm flight to Salt
Lake City, where they would take a connection flight to Helena.
Obviously none of the wolves broke into a sweat despite their
luggage, while Colt slowly started to get exhausted.

Colt had been tired since he got up
in the morning. He'd only gotten a few hours of sleep after the hot
sex with Prime and Sam, and they'd left the motel much too early in
order to dash North to the airport in Las Vegas. They wanted to fly
to Montana to meet Prime's mother and his former pack to attend the
burial ritual of his father. At least that's what Prime had decided
with Colt after his midnight phone call from his mother.

Mr. Loope senior had died several
days ago, and tomorrow Prime as his first son would attend his
cremation and afterwards the reading of his Last Will.

Despite his fatigue, Colt had so many
questions. Why did Prime want to go back given his father had
basically kicked him out of the pack for being gay? Why did his
mother not inform him about his father's death but only about his
cremation? Why did Prime want all of them to go? Would they be safe?
Or was this another attempt by their unknown enemies to lure them
into a trap? How would Prime's former pack react to his return?
Would they expect him to take over the leadership of the pack? Or
would they make sure he left as quickly as possible given that he was
now living this perverted life? What would they think about Colt?

And how would they get through
security with chains and cage locks?

The last questions at least had been
resolved very quickly. After the shower, Colt solemnly took off the
chains off each of his wolves. Their eyes did not only show the
exhaustion from the day before and the lack of sleep, but their
wariness about the absence of their marks. Colt then used the little
keys on his key chain to unlock their cages, without any of them
saying anything about this not feeling right. All of Colt's marks
went into Prime's military grade duffle bag, which would be checked
in. CE was carrying it as well as his own backpack, as Prime was
still in the process of returning the rental car.

Colt still remembered Prime, when
they'd put the plastic cages into the bag. He'd said in his most
authoritarian alpha voice: "If I see any of you playing with your
little weenie, I'm going to personally cut it off in Helena. And I
will do it very slowly. Is that clear?" There'd been ferocious
"Yes, Alpha!" answers as nobody doubted Prime about making true
on his promise. Locked away was odd, but still better than nulled.

When they all had their boarding
passes, and Brian also Prime's, they had the lady at the counter
check their carry-on luggage for compliance with the weight
restrictions. Obviously, the military sized rucksacks didn't fit,
but CE's military ID and Brian's super charming smile made her
grant them an exception and hand them the `approved' paper slips.
Afterwards she gave CE the baggage tag for Prime's duffle bag and
wished "Have a nice flight!" drooling over Brian's firm little
ass.

On the way to the security entrance a
bunch of giggling elderly ladies came their way, excitingly chatting
about the adventures in store for them in Las Vegas. Colt rolled his
eyes. He knew they would be spending most of their sad time alone in
front of the slot machines in the smoke infested casinos, losing
dollar after dollar of their pensions. If they were lucky they had
tickets to a Celine Dion concert, if they were less fortunate it
would be a Kathy Griffins performance, which they would leave in
shock because of her filthy language.

"On the way," CE informed them
looking up from his cell phone. "You guys get going, I'll wait
for him."

Colt, Brian and Sam nodded and stood
in line for security. Colt was even allowed to carry his own
messenger bag to unpack his laptop for the X-ray machine.

They all made it through it quickly
despite some of the boys' boots. Sam, though, got checked extra
thoroughly by one of the security guys, which made Brian growl
threateningly, so Colt had to elbow him. Relieved they saw that a
running Prime had finally caught up with them and was in front of
security on the other side.

"Getting some drinks," Colt said
without waiting for Brian's protest. It seemed Brian was the same
anal control freak as Prime, when Prime wasn't around. `I guess
that's what makes him a Beta,' Colt conceded walking into a store
close by.

Sam showed up next to him within
seconds. "You shouldn't do this, Colt," he said.

"What?"

"Leaving the pack and doing stuff."

"Doing stuff?"

"You know," Sam was a bit
uncomfortable telling off his Meta, looking quickly back to check
whether Brian was around, "buying stuff like water. You could have
told me to do it for you."

"And if I wanted to do it?"

Sam whined. "I guess then you need
to have a chat with Prime. He would kill me again if he saw you
carrying water bottles while I stand around waiting for you ..."

Colt smiled. "No, he won't kill
you anymore."

"I know. But I'm more afraid what
he would do to me instead of killing me," Sam said seriously,
grabbing five 1l bottles of Colt's favorite Evian water.

"He's not so bad. But I guess you
understand I'm still getting used to be treated like this ...
sometimes I feel like a girl not a man."

Sam's dark eyes became smaller. "I
think you misunderstand."

Colt took some of CE's favorite
chocolate bars and the latest `Economist' and put them on the
counter next to the bottles.

"Do I?" he asked while the
African American lady keyed in the prices into her little machine,
not really taking her eyes off her mobile phone.

"You're the Meta and you have to
be treated accordingly. It's not just our job; it's physically
and mentally painful for us when we fail to provide for you."

"Fail to provide for me?" Colt
handed the dollar bills to the lady, who couldn't be less
interested in the two young men in front of her.

Sam cleared his throat. "Prime said
it: You're the most valuable we have in our lives. We want you to
be cared for every second of your life. It's our genetics. -- Do
you know how difficult it is for Prime that our pack is too small to
give you everything he wants to provide you with?"

Colt stopped, looking at the young
man in his too tight green T-Shirt with an A&F logo, which nearly
made him a poster-advertising boy for the clothing chain, if it
hadn't been for the substantial tattoo, which clearly didn't fit
the sterilely clean image of that brand. "Not following, Sam."

"Prime as the Alpha, he doesn't
want you to think about basics like rent, cars, bills for groceries
or getting water bottles," he lifted the bag with the bottle as
visual support for his argument. "As you come from a modest
background yourself, that hasn't become an issue yet. But Prime
feels you deserve more. And as he can't give it to you yet, it
pains him, so he -- no we -- will do everything else we can to make
you feel special."

"I do feel special. I have
everything I need, Sam."

"Maybe. I shouldn't talk so much.
I'm sorry, Meta," Sam became small and quiet again, walking
protectively at Colt's right to the gate, where Prime, Brian and CE
were standing in line for the actual boarding procedure.

"Everything OK, Colt?" Prime
asked, without showing any particular emotion at that moment. Even
his pine scent was an average May morning type.

"We're good, Alpha. Everything
okay with the car?"

"Yep. The guy was a moron, couldn't
handle that we returned it at a different location than where we got
it from and where we originally wanted to return it to. But finally
it worked out."

Sam offered Colt one of the bought
water bottles, but he declined and pointed to Prime, who accepted it
and took a big gulp after his run from the rental place. It seemed
wolf shifters were anyway always thirsty; which had been the reason
he wanted to buy water after security in the first place.

"Gimme your boarding passes,"
Prime said quickly. Obviously, the three wolves complied immediately,
while Colt gave him a quizzing look. "Seat arrangements," Prime
explained quickly looking at the seat numbers.

Colt didn't know whether he should
laugh or cry about Prime's analness, but he decided to go for: "Of
course. I guess I'm not getting my aisle seat."

Indeed Prime redistributed their
boarding passes, making sure he sat at the aisle with Colt next to
him to the window in the two chair rows. Brian would sit behind Colt
at the window, with CE at the aisle. In front of Colt would be Sam,
with a stranger next to him. Net effect was that Colt would be
surrounded completely by his own pack, with no stranger having a
chance to disturb or touch him. Colt found it a bit amusing but also
reassuring. And maybe this way he could get some sleep.

They called for boarding with the
usual priority rankings: people with children or special needs,
active members of the military, business class travelers and special
frequent flyer card holders. As CE still had a frequent flyer card
from his previous job in the Shore Patrol, he boarded ahead of the
pack carrying his and Colt's carry-on luggage to make sure there
was still space for it before the rest of the passengers boarded.

Prime growled.

"What's wrong?"

"Can't smell him." Prime
pointed at a man, maybe in his mid 40ies, quite slim in a
well-tailored suit and with an ostentatiously expensive watch. His
face was impeccably shaved and the eyebrows carefully stylized.

The lady at the boarding machine
granted him a more than just professional smile, which he barely
returned.

Colt closed his eyes trying to take
in the scent; but he was at an airport and couldn't pick up any
specific oil scent. "Not sure whether he's a vampire."

Prime beckoned Sam to come closer.
"Watch the guy who just got his boarding pass scanned, with the
100-dollar haircut. -- If you see him get up from his seat, let me
know."

Sam acknowledged the order and caught
up with the queue to be boarded.

The tiny plastic cup in front of him
was full of ice, so that the Diet Coke in it was gone after two sips.

It was a clear signal from his body
about how tired it really was that he did fall asleep few minutes
after having sipped on his drink, although he'd never been able to
sleep for long on planes before. Even on his red-eye-flights across
the Atlantic to visit his grandparents, he'd stayed awake most of
the 10 hours, reading his books. And when he slept he had the oddest
dreams about algebra, or fires or jackets.

Or maybe it was his brain's signal
it felt safe. Prime's shoulders were a bit too wide for the seats
in the small plane, so he touched Colt with every little movement of
the plane, sending him waves of calm sweet pine and gentle little
electrical jolts. There was no inconsiderate guy in front of him who
put his seat down locking him in, as Sam was sitting there. Colt had
observed the small, middle aged lady next to the dark haired enforcer
had wanted to start a motherly conversation with him but had given up
after he said three times "yes, mam," twice "no, mam," and
once "Helena, mam." Sam twitched a bit and for a second Colt
smiled about the reason why. And nobody at his back played with his
seat as he'd experienced before especially with kids, as Brian had
fallen asleep as well the moment he'd sat down. He sensed that
although Prime's and CE's eyes were closed they didn't really
sleep, but were acutely aware of their surroundings and would be wide
awake in a fraction of a second if needed.

Even with a vampire on board, he felt
safe. He fell asleep. And it seemed his upcoming auditing internship
invaded his brain, as he kept dreaming about wooden Excel
spreadsheets mostly with the number 6 going up in flames.

He only woke up, when the wheels of
the aircraft touched Salt Lake City's airport. As they had nearly
two hours lay-over time, they decided to get a snack, although the
absence of a proper steak place didn't find the pack's approval.

Before they boarded their connecting
flight, Colt instructed Sam to buy water bottles for them again,
which was met by Prime with approval and by Sam with a relieved
smile.

Same boarding process. Same seating
arrangements. Except that Colt read on his Kindle for quite some
time, before falling asleep again -- this time the `06' exploded
on the Excel chart.

In another `breeder's car' they
went on their two and half hour journey to Prime's home pack close
to Hamilton.

It was past midnight, when they
arrived. Colt couldn't see a lot except the clear sky showing
myriad of stars. But he could sense his men were itchy. Maybe they
smelled other wolves, maybe they sensed Prime's apprehension the
closer they got to his parents' place or maybe it was the
surroundings. He assumed this area must be perfect for wolf shifters:
mountainous, undisturbed forests, clean rivers and crisp air. It was
unfortunate for them half-dead vampires preferred the deprivation of
cities, forcing the shifters to live there to follow their genetic
disposition to protect humans from them.

When they stopped in front of an
impressive mansion, which resembled style-wise an oversized chalet,
Brian killed the engine as if this was the last thing he would do
today. It was quiet. Maybe Prime had expected his mother to greet him
the moment they arrived, but that didn't happen.

They got their stuff, the duffle bag
had successfully made the connection in Salt Lake City, and
approached the intimidating door.

Prime rang the bell.

A window lit up.

Steps.

An elderly lady with short gray hair,
wearing an equally gray cardigan opened the door. Her greenish eyes
smiled carefully at them. "Prime, it's such a pleasure to see you
again."

"Aunt Sylvia, you haven't aged a
day."

She gave him a dismissive hand
signal. "Oh, you've never been a good liar."

Prime chuckled, hugging his aunt.

"Come in, your room is ready. It's
just ..." she hesitated when she saw the other four men next to
Prime.

"Mother didn't tell you?"

"No, seems she must have forgotten
you bring friends, it's a tough time for her," Sylvia said
diplomatically, although it seemed clear to everyone her sister,
Fauna, the wife of the late alpha and Prime's mother, might have
forgotten because she just didn't care.

"No problem. Are the guest rooms on
the 2nd
floor available?" Prime asked, obviously remembering the house he
grew up in.

"Yes, Prime. Your friends can stay
there."

"I'll stay there as well,"
Prime decided signaling to the others to come in.

Colt wasn't sure whether he liked
the house. It was spacious, in warm wooden colors, decorated with
good local art and semi antique furniture, but it was too wooden for
him. He could see his grandmother living here, being impressed by the
space and amenities, but it wasn't right for him. He guessed this
was another item on the list for his future house: not too much
exposed wood, more openness, more bricks.

"No problem. Are you guys hungry?"
she asked well knowing wolf shifters were always hungry.

"Sure," Prime said.

"I'll warm up something. Come
downstairs in half an hour." She smiled at the thought of preparing
food for Prime.

"Where's mother?"

"Asleep, the doctor gave her some
medicine."

Prime rolled his eyes. His mother was
such a drama queen.

"Prime?" a young voice asked a
bit sleepy, coming down the stairs.

"Seb?" Prime asked like with a
frog in his throat.

Colt couldn't believe his tired
eyes. A second Prime in black gym shorts and a wide white T-shirt
with the name of the local basketball team approached them
cautiously. He was maybe 17, but nearly as tall as Prime, with the
same red blond hair and dreamy green eyes. He already showed an
incredibly muscular physique, so Colt thought he must have been quite
popular with the girls in his school.

"We'll see about that, young
man," Prime took the banter. "Anyway, this is Colt."

Colt offered his hand, which Seb
shook politely. "Welcome, Colt." He quickly looked at Prime as if
saying: `He isn't a wolf shifter.'

Prime ignored the look. "This is
Brian, my Beta." Hand shakes. "CE, my chief enforcer." Seb
seemed to whine a bit, when he shook the big guy's hand. CE must
have made clear he only accepted one Loope Alpha. "And Sam, our
second enforcer."

Seb nodded.

While they walked up the wide
staircase, with Brian, of course, carrying Colt's messenger bag,
and Sam his suitcase, Prime put his arm around his younger brother.
And for a second Colt got a boner seeing two of those gorgeous Loope
asses in front of him.

"So how's school?"

"Hate it. Well, not everything,
obviously like basketball, but also biology."

"Biology?" Prime seemed to be
surprised.

"Yeah, have this cool teacher. I
think I'll go to college to study it."

"That's great. Where do you want
to go?"

"As far away as possible, but I
guess my mother will barely accept a neighboring state. -- Maybe you
can talk to her." He looked at his brother hopefully.

Prime laughed his deep trademark
laugh. "I'm not sure I'm the best person to convince our mother
of something she doesn't want."

"Can you try?"

"I will." Upstairs, Prime pointed
at Sam to take the room directly opposite the staircase; Brian and CE
would take the room to the left of the stairs, and Colt the room
opposite to them. Colt immediately understood that whoever wanted to
get to Colt had to pass by Prime's and CE's doors. He wondered
whether Prime actually had to think about these things or whether
they came to him instinctively.

"And do you have a girl?"

"Yes. Well had. But she broke up
some weeks ago." Seb didn't look too sad about it.

"Sorry, to hear that, bro."

"No problem, she wasn't too good
in bed anyway," he said all Loope wolf macho.

Seb disappeared with Prime and Sam in
the first room, so Colt couldn't listen to the rest of the
conversation.

He got into his assigned room. It
continued the house's overall style of lots of exposed wood and
local art. But as it was at the corner of the house it had plenty of
windows. Now in the darkness of midnight he couldn't see anything
outside, but he assumed tomorrow he would be able to admire the
mountains around them.

He checked the bathroom. He was
pleased that it had a walk in shower.

Refreshed he went back outside
knocking at Prime's door.

When nobody answered he entered. He
heard the shower running. Colt was surprised to see Prime and Sam
showering together -- the shower had two heads and surely Prime had
showered with many other guys in the military, but somehow it
irritated him. He cleared his throat rather loudly announcing his
presence and displeasure.

A blushing Sam and an apologetic
Prime stared at him pleadingly as if saying: `It's not what it
looks like.'

"Someone better help me understand
why my Alpha and one of my enforcers are showering together, when
both of them are still unlocked."

"Meta, please," Prime was
begging, his face in discomfort. Prime was scared.

Colt raised his eyebrows, deciding to
let them hang themselves a bit longer. "Conserving water I guess?"

"Sorry. My fault, Meta. Punish me,
but not Sam, please."

Colt approached Prime, who was
getting closer to panicking now. Colt felt the power rush, making
such a strong male specimen shiver in fear of his reaction. It wasn't
right, but it felt so good. His boner was thinking exactly the same.

"Gimme your neck!" Colt ordered
with the most authoritarian voice he could muster, which made Sam
move out of the shower into the bedroom away as far as possible in an
instant.

Obediently, Prime tilted his head,
exposing his neck, which still showed the marks from yesterday.

Colt bit. Not hard, not like
yesterday, more playfully. "And now, the two of you get your cages,
so we don't have more `incidents!'" Colt ordered shouting as
if his rage had still not subsided.

He chuckled seeing the two men
dashing to the duffle bag, rummaging in it desperately to find their
specific cages.

"Prime, lock Sam's."

"Yes, Sir."

When Prime stood in front of Colt in
the at ease position, the green eyes looked at him all submissively.

Colt's boner was protesting, it
needed release now. It needed to fuck this hunk into submission.

"You believe me, don't you,
Colt?"

"I do, Prime. But I'll feel
better with you wearing this thing again."

Prime nodded violently and growled
contently when he heard the click of the lock.

"Food boys," a friendly voice
shouted outside.

Prime and Sam rushed to put on shorts
and T-shirts, and Colt tried to rearrange his boner checking for
leaks.

They sat in one of the three dining
rooms, at least that's what Prime had said, munching on a beef
stew, minced meat loaves and potato soup. The food was hearty and of
the type that tasted even better when reheated.

When most of them had filled their
bellies, although CE was still working on that, Aunt Sylvia said:
"Boys, I'm off to bed now. Need to get up early."

"Sleep well," Prime said. It was
obvious that he liked his aunt, much more than he had ever like his
mother.

"Thanks, you too. Don't worry
about the dishes. We'll handle that tomorrow."

When she was gone, Seb stopped eating
looking at Prime. "So why are you here, Prime?"

"Mother called me, you know."

"Are you going to take over the
pack?"

The table fell quiet. Even CE had
stopped eating.

"I don't think so. You know why I
left?"

Seb didn't answer. "I cannot take
over yet, so I guess one of our uncles or cousins will become alpha.
Will you challenge him?"

Prime shook his head.

"Why not? You're the rightful
heir," Seb raised his accusing voice.

"Seb, I don't think you
understand."

"Oh I do. You're a ..." Seb
stopped himself before saying something he might regret.

"Yes, I'm gay, if that's what
you mean." Prime was unusually calm and soft. He instinctively knew
he'd hurt Seb with his leaving, although he wouldn't have been
able to avoid it. His father had banned him, and he'd had to leave
his baby brother behind. Seb had been barely eight and hadn't been
able to understand why his big protective brother, who showed him
everything about life he found exciting, had deserted him.

Prime chuckled. "Sure he can. In
the next days we run, then you can see how bad he can kick your ass."

"None of our uncles would have a
chance against you. Even Zef would lose."

Prime's nose twitched.

Colt instinctively felt Zef was not
someone Prime was looking forward to meet again even after all these
years.

"I would make spam out of this
mutt," Prime confirmed with his alpha voice.

Colt got a boner.

Prime smelled it and looked at Colt
conspiratorially, which made Brian chuckle.

"Not getting it," Seb asked lost.

"Not important," Prime pushed his
question aside.

"Not that, Prime, I know he has a
boner," Seb said without hesitation, turning Colt's face so
crimson he could replace a traffic light. Colt begged all gods in the
universe to open the ground so he could disappear in a hole in it.
How could he embarrass himself in front of a 17-year-old?

"Not getting why you don't want
to be our alpha." Seb was pouting.

"I already have a pack," Prime
explained.

"No insult, but those?" He
pointed with his fork on the men around the table.

Prime growled. He loved his brother,
but he would not have his pack be insulted by him. "Yes, those. And
you better be respectful."

"Sorry, Prime. Sorry," he
directed the second `sorry' to the group.

Colt frowned. Seb had apologized a
bit too quickly. Colt obviously still couldn't figure every time
correctly, which role which wolf had, as he'd found out yesterday
when he'd thought the policeman had been the alpha wolf; but he was
pretty sure Seb hadn't inherited the alpha gene, unlike his proud
brother Prime. Although, even Prime's genetic disposition seemed
untraditional for an alpha, given he submitted to a meta. "No
problem," Colt accepted Seb's apology.

Seb glanced at him confused. He
obviously didn't understand why the human talked to him and not the
Beta Brian or the enforcer.

"So if you aren't going to take
over the pack, why did mum want you here?"

"I have no clue. I guess I'll
learn tomorrow."

"Will you leave again?"

"Yes."

Seb didn't like that answer. "Can
I come with you?"

Prime looked a bit scared. "I'm
not certain that would be wise, Seb. You need to finish school. And
you don't really know me. I'm not the same Prime I was ten years
ago, when I left here."

"I know. But you're my brother.
And dad is ... And mum is so ..." He didn't finish the sentence
to focus his will power on suppressing his tears. It was obviously
not cool for a 17 year old to cry in front of his hero brother and
his friends.

`No, no alpha,' Colt concluded,
even if he liked Seb. He was honest, direct and simply in need of
being loved.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow,
okay, champ?"

"Sure. So why is Colt here?"

"Is part of my pack," Prime tried
to evade the question.

"A human?"

"It's a long story," was the
next evasion.

"Have you mated him?" Seb asked,
without showing any sign of approval or disapproval.

"Kind of." The room for Prime to
evade questions became smaller.

"`Kind of?' What does that
mean?"

"It's complicated," Prime tried
one more time.

"You don't trust me?" Seb
concluded not incorrectly.

"Seb, it's late. We had a long
trip. And we had a terrible day yesterday. We need sleep. Is that
okay with you?"

Seb looked with his big green eyes at
Prime, slowly nodding.

Colt swallowed, it seemed the stream
of piercing questions was over. And he was also happy he didn't
smell Seb. No scent of land features or fruits. This meant Seb wasn't
supposed to be in their pack. He wouldn't have known how to deal
with the situation if Seb had been a potential pack member.
Irrespective how good looking Seb was, he was Prime's brother, too
young, even if by only few years, and he was pretty sure Prime's
mother would have torn him into pieces seducing her second son as
well.

"Good. I have a get out of jail
card then. That poor enforcer could barely walk today."

"I think it's time for bed."
Prime got up, followed by Colt and Sam.

"It's no fun, if I'm not being
threatened with castration," Brian complained truthfully.

"If you don't stop talking about
me getting it up the ass, I
will castrate your wolf during the next run," Sam threatened in a
carefully ambiguous way between playfulness and full sincerity. "And
I'll happily get killed by my Alpha thereafter for mutilating my
Beta," he added raising his chin.

"I noticed. I feel so naked without
it. And it feels wrong, but I appreciate your consideration."

"Don't misunderstand me. I hate
it. I don't know why, but I was tempted even during our midnight
dinner to get it to show your brother. But I guess everything at its
time." Colt undid his sneakers.

"You should be safe here, Colt, but
CE and I will make sure nobody comes into this room."

Colt smiled putting his socks away.
"Understood. And unless you want to massage and lick my feet like
CE, you better get of this room now as well, so I can get some sleep.
You guys wear me out."

Prime shook his head with a smile on
his face walking to the door. "We, I love you, Colt. Thanks for
being you."

Colt sighed. He'd never been a
romantic person, had seen too much shit in his fucked up life, but a
hunky red-haired marine wolf shifter with his sexy tattoo and in
shorts showing off his sturdy smooth calves, declaring his love to
him, made him mushy to the bones. "Get out, bad ass wolf. Love you,
too."

Prime admired the sky at night. It
was different up here north. Maybe it was the air, maybe the scent of
the flora. Faintly he could even recognize the smell of the wolves
who had been here in the past days. And some of those scents he knew.
School friends, relatives, his parents' friends from the town.

He had missed this so much. His
childhood memories of endless playing at the nearby lake during the
school holidays, of his first shift in his puberty, which had come
much too early surprising his father, his nightly runs with his
school friends. Everything came back as if it had been yesterday.

And nothing had really changed around
here. The house looked like the day he had left, so did the local
village. And he was sure even Hamilton still looked the same as the
day he had graduated from high school.

Back then, he had known for weeks his
parents had made the decision to kick him out the moment he graduated
from high school. He was too much an embarrassment, a gay wolf
shifter son; and that in the alpha family.

He had not only known, he had worked
towards it. While he'd never had sex with a girl, which could have
been the hint for his parents, he had also never had sex with a guy,
so how could they have known that he was gay? He could have always
pretended he wanted to wait for his mate: the one female wolf
shifter. They would have admired his mature self-control and
supported his difficult choice. Even if this elusive female mate
wouldn't have materialized until he graduated from college, he
still could have become the Alpha of West Montana pack, as it was
tradition: the rightful heir takes over when he is 25.

But he also knew he wouldn't have
wanted that. He didn't want to pretend. He didn't want to lie to
his parents, his friends and his pack. And he knew he would have been
a bad alpha, having to lie to everyone every day. So, few days before
his graduation ceremony when his father had asked him with whom he
would go to the graduation party in an unusual moment of interest,
he'd said honestly: "I won't go, dad."

"Why's that, son?"

"Don't have a girlfriend."

"Sorry. I'm sure the right one
will come. I can tell you an alpha wolf is irresistible to lots of
females." He seemed to chuckle remembering his own conquests in the
past.

"I don't want a female." His
voice was firm. His muscle tensed, expecting the punishment of a
full-grown alpha wolf shifter.

"Are you saying ...?" His father
didn't complete the sentence afraid of the answer.

"Yes. I'm gay," he said
proudly, not sparing the feelings of his father, but bracing himself
for the beating.

"Prime, it's better if you go to
bed now. We'll talk about this tomorrow," his father reacted
disappointingly evasive.

They had barely spoken in the
following weeks. And two days after graduation, when his parents had
taken a surprise trip to Helena to visit distant relatives, he'd
found a letter in his room. It was a good-bye letter. His parents
basically told him he was to be gone before they returned. Some money
was included, but that was it. They didn't even have the strength
to tell him personally. Only aunt Sylvia sneaked into the house to
hug him before he left. Prime was sure she'd never told her
heartless sister and brother in law.

He sighed.

Few days later he'd signed up with
the marines and was on his way to Camp Pendleton leaving this
majestic valley behind. For months he'd hoped his parents would
call him, that his mother would reach out to him, that she would
convince his father to allow him to come back. But the call never
came, the invitation to return neither. He graduated from boot camp,
continued his training and was sent to Afghanistan. Those were blurry
months, wasted years. He was alone, so alone.

Yes, his brothers-in-arms were
supportive, he was always part of the in-crowd, given he was an
irresistible chick magnet, a ferocious soldier in battle and reliably
loyal to his comrades. But he knew his brothers-in-arms would never
be his pack. He wasn't even concerned about DADT, as he knew he
couldn't have sex with a man anyway, he never really could get it
up. He'd already doubted he was gay in the first place, so he tried
with chicks, but even then it didn't work except for eating them
out; and he didn't enjoy that at all even if he had made several
come that way.

Only when he recalled his fantasy of
leading a pack, he got some mental peace. Normally he used his runs
to keep sane, but sometimes that wasn't possible. And one lonely
night in San Diego, few days before returning again to the numbing
nothingness of Afghanistan, he got so drunk he started a fight with
the Shore Patrol. Only the fact the sergeant in charge recognized he
was a wolf shifter, kept him away from formal charges. That had been
the day he'd met CE. And from that day on he'd known his dream of
a powerful pack would become true one day. At least as of that day he
could share his dream with someone else.

One day he would be able to provide
such beautiful lands to his growing pack, a gorgeous spacious house
to his Inner Circle, with the biggest walk-in shower for Colt he
could dream of. They would drive several redneck pick-up trucks and
that sexy German convertible Colt had pictures of on his laptop. He
knew Colt wasn't expecting this, that he wouldn't demand it, and
he knew Colt one day would be able to afford all of this including
the Audi by himself given his smartness and education, business
consultant and all, but he, Prime, Alpha of Colt's Pack, wanted to
do this. Wanted to hold on to his dream of a powerful, meta-led pack.
He had come so far; he would get there at the end.

That scent. It clicked. "Mother, I
might not have seen you for ten years, but I still recognize your
scent."

"Prime," a quiet voice said,
approaching him slowly from behind.

He turned.

She'd become old. Her hair was
still black as he remembered from years ago, but he was sure it was
dyed. Despite a facelift, her wrinkles around her eyes refused to
hide. Her deep neck, not covered by the nightgown, showed first signs
of age spots, as did her frail hands.

"How are you?" he asked politely.

"How is one if one's mate has
died?"

Prime frowned. He knew his mother
hadn't been his father's true mate. He'd never found his.
Instead he'd married the sexiest female chasing him, the future
alpha wolf, to make some alpha pups. Now, one could ask what had come
from that stupid idea, Prime thought: a gay alpha and a non-alpha
pup. But he didn't say anything to her.

"I saw you brought friends."

"I had told you. Yes, I did. My
pack."

"They're not your pack, this is
your pack," she contradicted him, even if only to provoke him.

Prime couldn't be bothered to get
angry. This was an old, broken woman.

"It isn't, my father and you made
sure of that ... and you guys didn't change your mind in nearly ten
years."

"Prime, it's such a long time ..."

"Come on," he interrupted her
bluntly, reminding herself that she might look old and look broken,
but she was still the manipulative woman he'd grown up with. "I
know why you guys never changed your mind. You always thought you had
a second son, who could become pack alpha."

She didn't look him into the eyes.
And Prime was happy about that. He knew he had inherited his green
eyes from his mother, but he didn't want to see that.

"Now it turns out Seb doesn't
seem to be an alpha wolf ... so I guess you have a problem."

"Seb's a nice kid," she
contradicted him.

"He is. But `nice' doesn't
make an alpha, does it?" he answered smugly.

"Zef will be a good alpha for the
pack," she tried to provoke him again.

"I don't think you really want my
opinion on this, do you?" He was surprised about the choice, but on
the other side, he knew Zef had always had the goal to make it to the
top in this pack. That's why he always wanted to be Prime's best
friend. Unfortunately for him, Prime didn't want Zef for a friend
after that episode. He could only imagine how excited Zef must have
been when suddenly the alpha heir had left without a trace. He just
had to hope now the ruling alpha died early enough for Seb to be too
young to take over. And Seb not being alpha material must have been
the final jackpot.

"Actually, I do. Because I think
you would be a better alpha," she said with sudden motherly pride.

"I would. But I also have the
feeling the pack wouldn't want to have me. I'm sure Zef has made
sure of that by now."

"They would accept you if you
challenged Zef. And you look as if your wolf could beat him any day,"
she tried to egg him on.

"Mother, why would you want me to
be pack alpha? To keep your status as mother of the alpha family?"

She pulled her thick white gown
closer as if freezing, although, he knew that she wouldn't freeze,
she was a wolf, and it was pleasantly warm. Drama. "Have you
thought of Seb? He's a nice boy, but what would happen to him as a
semi orphan, with an old outer circle mother?"

Prime felt pain in his heart for a
moment, he hadn't thought of that indeed. But he was suspicious of
her. "I'm sure our father has left money from his private funds
for him to go to any college of his choosing. And one day he'll
find a pack he really likes. So you aren't worried about Seb,
mother." The way she killed him with his eyes confirmed his
suspicions. "You're worried about you. Losing all this. The
money, the status, the subservience. Being afraid of being nothing in
the future."

"So you're not going to challenge
Zef?"

"Not my plan. I don't belong here
anymore. You know that." He knew he lied a bit. He missed this
place.

"I can live with that. But you
might get something for not challenging Zef."

"What could I get from Zef? He has
nothing I want." This was ridiculous.

"But I might ...," she said
carefully; at the end she still tried to manipulate an alpha wolf.
And she'd learned in her life that one needed to be careful when
handling an alpha.

"Like?" he asked instinctively.

"Well, I could agree not to contest
your father Last Will. As far as I understand there is some money for
you involved and for ...," she insinuated.

Prime laughed, silently, as if he
knew his laugh would otherwise travel through the entire house in the
silence of the night.

"As I know him he employed half a
dozen lawyers to confirm his Last Will. I'm not afraid of that."

"Prime, you have always been
smart."

"Thanks, mother. Are we done?"

"I could offer you something else."
She had turned around staring into his eyes with determination.

"Mother, I'll go to bed now, I
have no time anymore for your soap opera drama. Not after all this
time." He went for the door to go back in.

"But maybe your Meta wants to know
who his mother is."

When Prime turned around in shock,
Fauna Loope smiled like an aging Hollywood actress, who was still
recognized on the street by her fans.